Bond of Warriors
by forever-obedient
Summary: A tender moment shared between Kenshin and Kagome while they're cooking dinner.


A/N: Said I wasn't going to write any other stories, but this one just popped into my head and begged to be written. R/R please! Or favorite, those are just as good. Maybe even better.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin.

Bond of Warriors

"Could you pass me the daikon, please?" Kagome pointed in the general direction of the aforementioned vegetable.

Her co-chef responded with a congenial smile, "Certainly, Miss Kagome."

"Thanks."

"You are very welcome."

She gently took the white-colored radish from his outstretched hand, and a fleeting thought ran through her mind unsolicited. She just couldn't help but wonder at how such kind looking hands could be capable of such violence. Never had she met another soul as conflicted as that of the man standing next to her. He was an enigma that intrigued her endlessly. Questions that she didn't think she would ever get the answers to, whether because she was too hesitant to ask or figured even if she asked he wouldn't have an answer to give, constantly flitted around in her mind.

Out of the corners of her eyes she tried to discreetly study him, from his flaming red hair to his soft, lilac eyes to the tell-tale cross-shaped scar bared glaringly across his cheek. It was a symbol of his past. Every struggle, every pain, every sacrifice. Everything that has led him to where he is standing right now. It's much like her own scar. A crescent-shaped bite mark forever engraved across her body, just above her left hip, acting as a constant reminder of the beginning of her time-travelling journeys and all the stuff that has happened since.

She mentally shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts before they took a turn for the darker side and ended up bringing her whole mood down. The past was the past and she was determined to move forward in life with her head held high. She looked to the relatively short man humming quietly and a bit off-key beside her for distraction.

"Kenshin! You're cutting those all wrong!"

He started at the reprimand, "Oro?"

Immediately he stopped what he was doing to look at her in bewilderment. She moved closer to him, covering his left hand with her own to mold it into the correct position.

"Here. This is the way you're supposed to hold this. You don't want to splay your fingers out like that cuz that's just an accident waiting to happen! You like having all of your fingers don't you?" She questioned him in a firm voice.

His eyes widened and he nodded his head vigorously, "Yes, yes! Of course, Miss Kagome!"

"Well then from now on, make sure you always tuck your fingers under with your knuckles out when you're cutting something," she commanded him with a stern expression on her face, except for the tiny quirk of her lips that belied her actual amusement.

It wasn't every day that she got to correct the Legendary Battousai's form with a knife. Granted it was a cooking knife and the situation was hardly life or death, but she still felt accomplished.

He scratched the back of his head in good-natured embarrassment as he replied, "I must confess that I've not had much instruction in the art of cooking. Master Hiko's idea of cooking was sticking a freshly caught fish on a stick over a fire and well Miss Kaoru…"

He trailed off nervously, but Kagome didn't need him to finish the sentence. Kaoru's culinary skills or lack thereof were well known to anyone who had ever had the misfortune of spending the night at the Kamiya Dojo. Lord knows Sano and Yahiko had ranted and complained about feeling sick for _days_ after the last meal the headstrong girl had tried to make. Needless to say, Kagome's entrance into their little ragtag family with her bright smiles and cooking that was to-die-for was very near a godsend, despite her questionable origins. Although, given the abnormal backgrounds of everyone else in the group, it was really rather unlikely that any one of them would give her any grief over her own.

She grinned at him in total understanding and threw up a hand to stop him, "Enough said."

Kenshin glanced around the kitchen nervously though, as if simply implying that Kaoru's cooking left much to be desired would somehow conjure the woman herself into the room in all her undoubtedly indignant anger. Kagome laughed at his antics, but she felt a chill run down her spine like karma would somehow find a way to bite the two of them in the butt later for their comments, or non-comments.

Shaking of the feeling quickly, she asked, "So, if you didn't learn from your swordsmanship master, how did you learn to cook as well as you do?"

His shrugged and said, "I learned mostly just from teaching myself. Even before I left Master Hiko's training to go out on my own, I had gotten used to fending for myself in a way. I just experimented with different spices and ingredients until I eventually developed a sense for what would taste good when cooked a certain way or when paired with something else."

She nodded along to let him know she was listening.

His eyes became glazed over in nostalgia though as he continued, "But there was this one old woman. I met her in a small village on the outskirts of Kyoto. Just a couple of days after I had left Master Hiko's, I stopped to rest the night in this village and this old woman was the owner of the inn. I think she took pity on me or maybe she thought I was a troublemaker that needed discipline, but she watched me like a hawk in the short time that I stayed there. She would ask me to help her with different chores saying that 'strong young men should always help the elderly.' I ended up helping her in the kitchen usually and she taught me how to make simple meals like miso soup or grilled fish and rice. And after a few days, I left and was eventually recruited by the Imperial Army."

Kagome's eyes softened he recounted his memories, which he so rarely did since putting that life behind him.

"She was looking out for you. She didn't want you to leave without knowing at least how to make yourself some decent food."

He looked at her in surprise, "I… hadn't thought of it that way before."

Kagome fixed him with a wry smile, "Well I'm guessing you've never raised a child before, so I'm not that shocked."

His eyebrows rose to the point that they became obscured by his bangs, "Have y―"

He cut himself off abruptly, looking at her ashamed of his lack of restraint in asking such a personal question, or starting to anyway.

"I apologize! I did not mean to intru―"

She waved off his apology easily with a careless gesture and an amused chuckle saying, "It's no intrusion, Kenshin. I trust you and everyone else in this dojo with my life."

He smiled in relief as she continued, "Before I came here, I traveled all over Japan with friends. But really, we were more like family. We had all met each other through our travels and by some twist of fate I guess. One of them was a young boy, an orphan, and I immediately felt like I had to protect him. He was a bit of a prankster, but his heart was always in the right place and I came to think of him as my own. Unfortunately we were separated before I could really watch him grow up, but I have faith that the rest of our friends are taking care of him and each other in my stead."

"What was it that took you away from these friends, Miss Kagome? If there is any way that I or Kaoru and the others can help you get back to them we would gladly do it," he said earnestly.

She leaned forward and hugged him gratefully, much to his surprise, "Thank you, Kenshin. You have no idea what your words mean to me, but I'm afraid this is not the type of problem that can be fixed so easily. I'm afraid that nothing can stop the flow of time. Not even the Battousai."

"Miss Kagome…"

Those who knew him well generally avoided referring to him as the Battousai as he held no love for the name, but the way she had said it. It sounded as if she wished the killing blade of the Legendary Battousai _could_ cut through time itself and turn back the clock. Such a thing was not possible, but if it could take away the familiar haunted look in her eyes that he knew rested in his own, he felt he would stop at nothing to make it so.

She pulled away from him and smiled in a way that she hoped was reassuring, "I'm fine. I promise. But I would be even better if we finished up this oden already! It's my favorite you know, and I'm sure any second now Yahiko and Sano are going to bust through those doors demanding dinner so we'd better hurry!"

He smiled back at her attempts to brighten the atmosphere again and relented, "I'm sure you are right, as usual, Miss Kagome."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, mister!" She exclaimed as she playfully smacked him on the shoulder.

And as they set out the dishes on the table, their friends chattering merrily around them, Kagome leaned towards Kenshin and said, "Thank you for listening."

His returning smile reached all the way to his eyes, the dark shadows fading just a little bit more.

"Thank you for understanding, Miss Kagome."


End file.
